Seat Altea XL MOT failures and reliability
In 2023 the Seat Altea XL took 1,451 MOT tests in Britain and passed 59% of them first time, below the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.
- MOT tests in 2023
- 1,451
- First-time pass rate
- 59%
- All cars
- 71%
What the Altea XL fails on
Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.
- Lights and electrics16.9% (all cars 11.3%)
- Suspension15.2% (all cars 9.0%)
- Brakes9.7% (all cars 6.8%)
- Tyres8.9% (all cars 6.4%)
- Body and structure7.9% (all cars 3.5%)
- Visibility5.7% (all cars 4.8%)
- Exhaust and emissions3.5% (all cars 3.1%)
- Seat belts and airbags1.8% (all cars 1.0%)
Most common failure items
Share of tests on which each item was recorded.
- Coil spring: fractured or broken 5.4%
- Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 4.3%
- Stop lamp: not working 4.0%
- Service brake performance: excessively binding 4.0%
- Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect 3.9%
- Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 3.6%
- Headlamp aim: too low 3.3%
- Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 3.1%
Most common advisories
- Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 24.6%
- Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 13.0%
- Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 9.2%
- Brake pads: wearing thin 8.6%
- Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil 7.1%
- Coil spring: corroded 6.8%
- Service brake performance: binding but not excessively 5.8%
- Sub-frame: corroded but not seriously weakened 4.5%
Typical mileage by age
Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.
| Age at test | Average mileage |
|---|---|
| 10 years | 84,905 miles |
| 11 years | 92,151 miles |
| 12 years | 99,278 miles |
| 13 years | 113,158 miles |
| 14 years | 120,301 miles |
| 15 years | 120,481 miles |
| 16 years | 124,241 miles |
Check a particular Altea XL
Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.
Other Seat models
- Seat Ibiza
- Seat Leon
- Seat Ateca
- Seat Arona
- Seat Alhambra
- Seat MII
- Seat Altea
- Seat Toledo
- Seat Tarraco
- Seat Exeo
- Seat Arosa
- Seat Ibiza FR MPI
Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.